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Draft Memories: Bob St. Clair
To be drafted into the National Football League is an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Thousands of players have experienced that joyful moment since the college draft was instituted by the NFL in 1936. However, only a select number of these drafted players excelled on the NFL gridiron to the point that earned them a bust in Canton. Over the years, Profootballhof.com has sat down and asked some Hall of Famers to relive their draft day.
The first holdout?
As a senior at Tulsa, Hall of Fame tackle Bob St. Clair didn't think much about being drafted into the NFL. Then, one day, he received a visit from University of San Francisco (where Bob beganhis college career) alumnus Pete Rozelle. The future NFL commissioner and Hall of Famer, Rozelle worked for the Los Angeles Rams and relayed the message to St. Clair that the team was interested in selecting him.
"He told me to 'hang tough'," the 6'9" St. Clair recently related to profootballhof.com. A native of San Francisco, Bob looked forward to getting back to the west coast.
St. Clair then found himself just sitting around on draft day awaiting his fate. Soon, the draft was into the third round and the Rams had not yet selected him. Rozelle called to tell St. Clair he shouldn't worry because they'll grab him in the next round.
Before that could happen, Bob received a call from Tony Morabito, owner of the San Francisco 49ers, who had just taken St. Clair with the 32nd pick overall. Morabito was so elated to get the hometown product that he offered St. Clair a $5,000 contract. The sum, as described by Morabito, was a little more than average for a rookie.
"I told him, 'I'm sorry Mr. Morabito, I need $6,000." St. Clair said. "He hung up."
A week later the owner called again and upped his offer to $5,000 and a $500 bonus if St. Clair made the team. St. Clair turned down the offer.
Bob's reasoning for what he described was perhaps the NFL's first holdout was that he knew a fellow Tulsa teammate Marv Matuszak signed with the Green Bay Packers for $6,000.
"I'm as good as him," St. Clair thought and hence held firm on his demands. Fortunately for the 49ers, they came to agreement and "The Geek" anchored San Francisco's offensive line for the next 11 seasons. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.
Hall of Famers Taken in the 1953 NFL Draft
Doug Atkins, T, Cleveland Browns - 1st Round (11th overall)
John Henry Johnson, FB, Pittsburgh Steelers - 2nd round (18th overall)
Bob St. Clair, T, San Francisco 49ers - 3rd round (32nd overall)
Stan Jones, G-DT, Chicago Bears - 5th round (54th overall)
Jim Ringo, C, Green Bay Packers - 7th round (79th overall)
Joe Schmidt, LB, Detroit Lions - 7th round (85th overall)
Roosevelt Brown, T, New York Giants - 27th round (321st overall)
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